The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ruled that vehicles of India’s top constitutional authorities like the president, the vice president, governors and lieutenant governors will soon have to get registration numbers.

Representational image. AFP

The vehicles of these authorities need to get proper registration and shall clearly display the registration numbers, ruled the court, according to ANI reports. Currently, these vehicles, along with those used by the protocol division of the Ministry of External Affairs to transport foreign dignitaries, display only the state emblem of India and not the registration mark.

A non-profit group, Nyayabhoomi, in March filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, saying the vehicles stood out without the number plates and could be easily identified as targets by terrorists, according to NDTV.

According to Zee News, the petition referred to an RTI response by the Ministry of External Affairs admitting that none of its 14 cars maintained by its protocol division were registered. It also said that the Rashtrapati Bhawan refused to supply the registration numbers of its cars on the ground that disclosure of this information would endanger the security of the state and physical safety of the president.

In a strong remark in its petition, Nyayabhoomi said, "The practice of replacing the registration mark with the State Emblem of India, instead of displaying them both, is arbitrary and symptomatic of the desire to rule rather than to serve."